2010 Financial Year in Review

Automating savings is a godsend. I received a raise in July and am now contributing $992/month on 401k. We did very well this year with creating a decent size emergency fund while saving for europe as well as pay for the basement remodel. The end of this year has stalled savings because of Felicity's leg. As of yesterday we may not have to spend $1,500 for the surgery but instead $135 for a skin graft. Hopefully it holds so she can heal and we can save that money for our emergency fund. In Oct 2010 I began using mint again, mainly for analyzing our spending habits, and creating goals. I still rely on a google doc to make sure we are spending less than making. As for year in review:

Savings:

Jan 2010: $7,380

Jan 2011: $11,100

I'd say this is good considering we've spent $1,500 on Felicity in the last 2 months and $7,000 on our basement and backyard. Oh and already bought our plane ticket for Europe $1,500.

Retirement:

Jan 2010: $25,459

Jan 2011: $41,953

This is two fold. My portfolio has returned I think %35 this year, but I also contribute almost $1,000/month now.

Home:

Jan 2010: $213,594

Jan 2011: $199,972

This helped because of the tax credit, but we still are paying more on our mortgage every month, and are scheduled to pay it off between 12-15 years. Last time I did the numbers we will save over $65,000 in interest.

Overall Networth:

I started adding Ali's debts as of Sept, but for the sake of apples to apples I will give my debts only. Ali has $12,000 in student loans, but $9,000 in 401k, and also $420 in a car loan. After she pays off the car I will use the $211 to accelerate my student loans, then after that use the money to pay of Ali's loans, anyways, total networth:

Jan 2010:

Assets: $53,257 Liabilities: $222,369

-$169,112

Jan 2011:

Assets: $96,193 Liabilities: $207,845

-$111,652

That is a reduction of $57,460.

As I said before, this has been a successful year. I see 2011, continuing this. We do have a large trip to Europe but we will be prepared with a nice cushion in savings. Also, we need to get an estimate for the kitchen remodel which will consist of granite countertops, new stove, island custom made with bar, brick wall exposure. I'll keep an update throughout 2011

2011 goals and 2010 year in review

Here were my goals in 2010

• Weight 185 lbs by August
• Read 24 books(not even close, 6)
• Run half-marathon
• Learn Portugese
• Plan trip to Europe(Spain to Norway, stops in between)
• Redo basement
• Redo backyard
  
• Get emergency fund to $10,000
• Save $5,000 for Europe fund(very close)

Well, Id say 2010 was a very successful year. I didn't meet all my goals but stayed with many. Two revolving goals for 2 years have been learn Portuguese and get down to 185 lbs. This year my #1 priority is diet/fitness. Even while training for a half-marathon this year I only managed to lose a few lbs. The lightest I weighed this year was 203 lbs. We joined the YMCA in June and was using it regularly to lift and do cardio but after the half marathon in mid October I've used it between 1-2 days a week. I want to try going 4-5 days a week and watching what I eat, portions and quality of food.

Money wise we are in good shape with $10,000 in emergency, which will be down to $8,000 because I had to withdrawal that for Felicity's skin flap surgery. With that being said, savings within the first two months of this year will be tough because of all the expenses with Felicity. As of now we've spent ~$2,220 and will probably spend another $2,500. She broke her leg in Nov in Pittsburgh, and then her elbow became infected because of the splint. The break is healed but she is now struggling to regrow skin so she has to get surgery in 1 week and will take another month to heal. It will be nice to have her back to her old self. She has been sleeping on our own in the living room in an x-pen for about 6 weeks now, and probably will continue to do so for another 6 weeks. Ali only has 2 more payments and we will both fully own our cars. The goal of $5,000 in our europe fund will happen but it didn't by end of 2010. So our plan is to save $4,000 for the emergency fund, save $4,000 for the Europe fund. Fund $5,000 in a Roth IRA, hopefully with money we will save from the tax cuts made by the feds. Also continue contributing the 401k's at our jobs

We currently have ~$2,000 and have already spent $1,500 on our initial flights to Europe, so we were $1,500 short. Our goal is to have $6,000 saved for May to cover flights within Europe, food, hotel, and souvenirs. Our plan for Europe is: Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin and Oslo . I looked at train and plane for travel and decided on several one-way flights using easyjet and ryanair. It will cost us around $600 USD for both of us to fly within Europe. We will be going from May 2-21.

Remodeling of the basement was many long weekend from Feb-May. It is finished and we use it often. Also when the weather got nicer we built a fence in our backyard, installed a slate patio, and a brick walkway and garden beds. We will be using that this spring and summer and plan on growing a garden. Remodel jobs for 2011 will be the kitchen. Our goal is to work on it early summer/fall. We are going to expose the brick wall, replace the counter tops with either granite or corian. Also installing an island with a custom made bar, a backsplash with accent lights, a new gas stove/oven, and changing the stove ventilation to go above our cabinets.

This year we added many distractions from reading, a wii, random tv shows, angry birds, and Netflix streaming. I set a goal of 24 books, 2 a month and only read 6. I also am in the middle of 5 books which I'd like to read by March, and continue at a book a month. I just have to make the time at the end of the night to read an hour. I have many books I'd like to read so this shouldn't be hard to get back to at the moment. I will continue to use this blog just to peak at the goals and see how it goes. I don't really like updating posts but will give it a shot. However, I do peek at the goals once a month to make sure I'm on track. For 2011, the goals are in the right column, I will post a financial year in review this week as well.